Emerging markets lead global stocks lower, commodities sink

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Equities around the world took a dive led by emerging market stocks on Wednesday and commodities tumbled as investors looked for safety due to worries about China and Turkey.

Oil and metal futures fell sharply and the dollar faded after hitting a 13-month high earlier in the day.

While fears of a crisis in Turkey still loomed, China was in sharp focus as the yuan CNH=EBS sagged nearly 0.8 percent to 6.9514 per dollar, hitting its weakest level since January 2017.

On top of China’s disappointing economic data earlier in the week, technology firm Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) reported its first quarterly profit fall in nearly 13 years on weak gaming revenue.

MSCI’s emerging equities index .MSCIEF fell 1.8 percent after having dropped more than 20 percent from its January intraday high earlier in the day. Latin American currencies also slid.

“A combination of fears of contagion from Turkey and a possibility of a China slowdown has upset markets worldwide. It’s more of a risk off trade,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.

Turkey’s lira gained for a second day against the dollar, rising 7 percent on Wednesday after authorities took action against investors aiming to short the currency.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., July 31, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The euro regained ground after news Qatar pledged to invest $15 billion in Turkey, reducing anxiety about European banks’ exposure to Turkey.

The dollar index .DXY fell 0.03 percent, with the euro EUR= up 0.04 percent to $1.1346.

Copper CMCU3 lost 4.02 percent to $5,801.00 a ton and zinc CMZN3 fell 6.3 percent and touched its lowest level since October 2016.

“Copper and other commodities at first reflected the downturn in China but now have been exacerbated by expectations of further economic weakness,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 137.51 points, or 0.54 percent, to 25,162.41, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 21.59 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,818.37 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 96.78 points, or 1.23 percent, to 7,774.12.

The backdrop to all this is the escalation in global trade tensions, with Beijing lodging a complaint to the World Trade Organization to determine the legality of U.S. tariff and subsidy policies.

Turkey has also raised tariffs on some U.S. products “in response to the U.S. administration’s deliberate attacks on our economy”, Vice President Fuat Oktay wrote on Twitter.

U.S. crude oil CLcv1 fell 3.18 percent to $64.91 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $70.75, down 2.36 percent on the day after data showed a surprise weekly increase in U.S. crude stockpiles, compounding worries about a weaker global economic growth outlook.

Additional reporting by April Joyner, Richard Leong, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Rodrigo Campos in New York, Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo and Marc Jones in London; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker